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Tropical coleslaw

New year, same me, zero resolutions and I’m perfectly fine with that.

While there’s no resolutions (because I’m not really into setting myself up to fail, or as the infamous meme goes “no one likes a skinny sober bitch anyway”), but I love to set myself goals, I do it all the time. Goals feel different to resolutions, perhaps it because I do them throughout the year, an ongoing effort to focus on myself, better who I am and give myself something to high five (myself) about more often than just once a year. Also, resolutions seems to focus on what you should not do, rather than what you should do (i.e. most people say they want to shed 10 kilos rather than develop a more balanced diet or do more exercise). Plus, most people ditch their new year’s resolutions two weeks in, which is why I find consistent goal setting more rewarding and more attainable. It’s not a new year token fad, it’s a way of life.

Some of my goals are short term, some medium and others are long term – by breaking them up, they are easier to achieve. I certainly don’t beat myself up if I don’t meet one, but it’s rewarding to tick something off the list, a personal achievement, a win for me. For example, this year I have set myself a few goals to achieve; like eat more vegetarian dishes (not because I want to eat less meat, but because I want to expand my knowledge of great vegetarian dishes, be more creative), I also have a goal to run for eight kilometres without stopping by the end of April (it may sound strange, but I am a horrible long distance runner and I would LOVE to tick this off the list), and another I have is to add in an extra session of outdoor exercise every week (I already do two dedicated PT classes a week, but I want to up the sweat factor and spend more time outdoors).

See, nothing momentous, just a way to challenge myself and generate ways to make myself feel good. Achieving goals is great for mental health and allows you to stay focused on yourself, drowning out some of the noise that everyday life generates.

But, onto more important things like food. My tropical coleslaw is really really simple and is the perfect accompaniment to pulled pork – as you’ll see form my photos below we served it alongside an amazing eight hour smoked piece of pork shoulder we did for friends over the weekend (ongoing goal to spend more quality time with friends achieved – God I feel good 😉 ). The fresh apple and sweet pineapple made the smoky, slightly spicy pork a real knock out.

Oh, and I sincerely apologise for the serious lack of images….I was holding back a mob of seriously hungry friends!

Serves 10 – 12

Tropical coleslaw, the perfect friend for pulled pork, or any BBQ food really

Into a large bowl, place cabbage, apple, pineapple, onion and mix with your hands until combined

Into a small bowl mix together mayonnaise, vinegar, jalapenos, sugar and season with salt and pepper. Stir together and test before dressing the coleslaw – you may want to add more mayonnaise or vinegar to make the dressing more or less runny. I prefer a runnier dressing as it makes for a lighter coleslaw, not too heavy on the mayonnaise

Dress coleslaw and mix thoroughly to ensure an even coating across all ingredients. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve